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I epoxied the air frame (white) in place today. There is a small round hole for a PVC pipe that will simulate the LOX line, which was in the original build (after the first flight). There is also the square hole for the electronics compartment hatch. I have made these attachments today along with the centering ring near the top of the air-frame, but these items are not shown in the photo's.

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she is looking great aerostadt! I think through your rebuild she will come out looking better than before...if that is possible!


I epoxied the air frame (white) in place today. There is a small round hole for a PVC pipe that will simulate the LOX line, which was in the original build (after the first flight). There is also the square hole for the electronics compartment hatch. I have made these attachments today along with the centering ring near the top of the air-frame, but these items are not shown in the photo's.
 
she is looking great aerostadt! I think through your rebuild she will come out looking better than before...if that is possible!

Thanks, NJ! I epoxied the remaining part of the long side panel (remains me of a system tunnel) onto the side of the white air frame today. I was surprised by how good the fit was. This was the part that I cut off during the early part of the re-build that I started about 2 months ago.

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Looking forward to seeing it fly again.

Thanks, Owen. One major hurdle still remains. That is making the conical transition section with the 5 pounds of lead in it. I have bought the 3/16" hollow lead wire similar to what I used the first time at a nearby fish tackle store. See the attached photo. This time I am thinking of making the conical transition section as a sleeve to fit over the parachute tube. It will take some time before this task is done.

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I borrowed Frank's idea for the turbine exhaust pipe and made the attachment today. This was a very easy detail to include. I started the transition section by making a sleeve to fit over the parachute tube. I had a section of 6" diameter PML phenolic tube cut lengthwise. I slid this over the parachute tube with a piece of parchment paper underneath so that the gap in the cut phenolic tube would not be touching in direct contact with the parachute tube. I then epoxied small pieces of phenolic tube on top of the sleeve over the gap. When the epoxy cured the sleeve slid right off.







 
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I finally started building the upper transition section. To some extent this is like "dejavu all over again". I should have looked closer at what I did the first time on page 2 of this thread. (For me this forum is a convenient record to look things up.) Originally, I unraveled the lead coil around the PML tube and then put on the triangular wood pieces. This time I am winding the lead through the slots, which is harder. The photo's show a removable bulkhead along with one pound wrapped around the tube. I have 4 more pounds to go.

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The Atlas work is continuing slow, but sure. I put 30 minute epoxy on two quadrants and aeropoxy on the other two quadrants applying to the lead and and the triangular plywood struts similar to the method in the original build. Fortunately, I saved the thin ply from the original build in the attic. Also, I still had the paper template for the transition section from the original build. After test dry-fitting the paper template with the new transition section and making some adjustments, I cut the new shroud from the thin ply material. For now the aft bulkhead plate is removable.

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Bob, it's looking good. You're better at rebuilding than I am at building in the first place.

Joe

Thanks, Joe. You are too kind, but I do need the moral support.

I attached some small word blocks to the top of the triangular supports and put wood screws into the blocks through the centering ring. This provided some strength to hold the 1/64th ply in place, which tends to be stiff and springy. I also put some screw eyes into the centering ring in case I had trouble lifting the centering ring out. With these adjustments in place I wrapped the ply a few inches over itself and epoxied it in place using masking tape and clamps to hold everything together until the epoxy cures.

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very impressed Aerostadt.....your repair work is just very thorough and seems to be well planned out...as my engineer dad drilled into my head...plan your work...and work your plan!
looks awesome so far!


Thanks, Joe. You are too kind, but I do need the moral support.

I attached some small word blocks to the top of the triangular supports and put wood screws into the blocks through the centering ring. This provided some strength to hold the 1/64th ply in place, which tends to be stiff and springy. I also put some screw eyes into the centering ring in case I had trouble lifting the centering ring out. With these adjustments in place I wrapped the ply a few inches over itself and epoxied it in place using masking tape and clamps to hold everything together until the epoxy cures.

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very impressed Aerostadt.....your repair work is just very thorough and seems to be well planned out...as my engineer dad drilled into my head...plan your work...and work your plan!
looks awesome so far!

Thanks, NJ, the moral support is appreciated. I'm still at it. I took the masking tape off and everything held. I put some masking tape around the forward end, because there was a small gap there, where the transition section ends. I don't want a gap, because I am pouring in expandable foam from the aft end. This procedure works much better so far than what I did the first time. I am using Alumilite 2-part Super Foam 320. PML sells a similar product. My supply is about a year old and the part B (the dark liquid) has developed a little bit of crust on the top, but it is working fine. I have some plastic shot glasses that I picked up a dollar store, which are great for measuring out parts A and B. I poured 2 quadrants of the transition section at a time as the first lift. One more lift should complete the expandable foam process for the transition section.

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If NASA could man rate it and make it work perfectly, then so to can aerostadt. He can rebuild it, better, faster, stronger. Just like the Six Million Dollar Man, a little crash with a spacecraft means nothing. Yep, tell 'em that damage buffed right out, nothing to it!
 
If NASA could man rate it and make it work perfectly, then so to can aerostadt. He can rebuild it, better, faster, stronger. Just like the Six Million Dollar Man, a little crash with a spacecraft means nothing. Yep, tell 'em that damage buffed right out, nothing to it!

Thanks, Daddy! Well, it took about 3 months to buff out those dents. I wish I could get $6 million for this effort. We will have to do something better with this new revised version.

I got some more work done. This is the last major milestone with lots of detail work to follow. I assume everything will be easier from here. I placed the centering ring on the transition aft end and traced a pencil line for where the 1/64" ply needs to be cut off. This ply probably cuts best with a scissors when possible. I put on another lift, but it looks like I may need one more small lift.

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I put one more lift of foam in the transition section. In some places the foam went over the top and in other places it did not go all the way to the top. I cut off the extra foam with the zonal saw, screwed on the centering ring, and decided to call the internal construction of the piece done.

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she is looking awesome Aerostadt....every time I come to this thread I just marvel at the craftsmanship......just an amazing build!


I put one more lift of foam in the transition section. In some places the foam went over the top and in other places it did not go all the way to the top. I cut off the extra foam with the zonal saw, screwed on the centering ring, and decided to call the internal construction of the piece done.

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Over the winter I put the upper transition section back on to the Atlas and added all the missing or damaged doo-dads. About 2 weeks ago I took the Atlas out to the back porch and masked the original mylar sections that were on the model. I painted the booster section and the vernier motor LOX lines and system tunnels and lines silver. The upper section before the capsule was painted gloss black (I had a can of this stuff and decided to use it). The masking ended up working well.

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she is looking awesome!!


Over the winter I put the upper transition section back on to the Atlas and added all the missing or damaged doo-dads. About 2 weeks ago I took the Atlas out to the back porch and masked the original mylar sections that were on the model. I painted the booster section and the vernier motor LOX lines and system tunnels and lines silver. The upper section before the capsule was painted gloss black (I had a can of this stuff and decided to use it). The masking ended up working well.

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Thanks, Joe, Rich, NJ, and Frank. There is still a lot of work to do. I almost wonder if I should paint the whole thing silver or the upper part white to look like LOX tank frost. That would save a lot of work from putting the chrome mylar back on. If it was painted, I could always put the mylar on next year. I'll probably put the mylar on anyways, but it is something to think about.

NJ, there is a TRF thread that Frank posted that details his Dyna-Soar. In fact, Frank has named his company for making R/C rocket gliders, Dyna-Soar. Frank also has a TRF thread that has a 1/12 scale Atlas built from Depron, which is a very interesting alternative.
 
Aerostadt...thanks! I am going to check out Frank's builds...but I don't mean to hi jack your thread....I saw Frank's post and was looking at his avatar and decided I better go get my glasses to make sure I am seeing what I am seeing!

the white LOX frost would look pretty cool on this Atlas I think...be nice color contrast on the booster...FWIW I think that might be a neat touch.
 
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I think white for the lox would be neat, I was thinking maybe spraying my version with some xmas tree flocking when it comes xmas time..:)
 
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